Mario Cravo Junior was born on April 13th, 1923, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Since adolescence he is interested in drawing and astronomy.

He works in the studio of Pedro Ferreira, a sculptor of holy figures. In 1945 he marries Lúcia and does a training in the studio of the sculptor Humberto Cozzo in Rio de Janeiro.

His first individual exhibition in 1947 takes place in the "Oceania" Building in Salvador, showing sculptures and engravings.

As a special student of the Yugoslavian sculptor Ivan Mestrovich he works during one semester in the Siracuse University in the state of New York, U.S.A. He moves to New York, sets up his studio in Greenwich Village and carries out an individual exhibition at Norlyst Gallery. At this time he gets to know the composer Villa Lobos and models his head in bronze.

Back in Salvador, in 1949 he moves his studio into an unfinished building where the movement of modern art of Bahia receives the first impulses. He becomes a member of a group of young artists, such as Carlos Bastos, Genaro de Carvalho, Carybé, Jenner Augusto and Rubens Valentin. During this period he works intensively with wood, stone, ferrous and non-ferrous materials as well as with hammered and melted ones, using a new technology in the treatment of metals, such as oxi-acetylene and electric welding.

His themes vary from the vegetal universe to the study of the movement in fights and popular and regional dances, while his attention is being caught by the development of forms.

From 1950 onwards his studio is located at rua Garibaldi 556 in "Rio Vermelho" where he starts the systematic survey of the sources of popular and erudite art.

In 1955, at the first Bienal exhibition of the Modern Art Museum of São Paulo, Brazil, he wins the acquisition prize for young sculptors. He writes his thesis and becomes free lecturer of engraving. As an interim professor, he teaches engraving at the School of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Bahia, showing his sculptures in the most important cities of the country. In 1955 in Salvador he fulfills his first important exhibition in the open with sculptures in wood and meerschaum. In 1958, in the same place, he accomplishes another one, this time with sculptures in iron followed by a second one at the "Praça da República" in São Paulo in 1959.

He discovers the work of the sculptor of Minas Gerais, Antônio Francisco Lisboa, known as the "Aleijadinho" from the XVIII centenary and the ceramics of friar Agostinho da Piedade of the XVII centenary.

In 1960 he accomplishes a series of works inspired by the theme of the "winged" and represents the Brazilian Sculpture at the "XXX Biennalle Internazionale D'Arte Venezia". Two years later an important exhibition of his artistic creation takes place in the Museum of Modern Art, Bahia.

Under the patronage of the Ford Foundation and the Senate of West Berlin he is invited in 1964 to participate in the program "Artists in Residence". He then moves to Germany with his family. He stays in Berlin for one and a half years where he carries out several exhibitions. Following an invitation of the US State Department he visits 12 American Universities during 6 months where he gives lectures. He also shows his works of art in three individual exhibitions.

In 1972 he makes a sculpture for the Town Council of Salvador - the luminous fountain - at "Praça Cairú" named "Fonte da Rampa do Mercado" made of fiber glass with a metallic structure.

He builds his home and studio in the "Federação" quarter of Salvador and concentrates on sculptures using the technique of polyester resins and reinforced plastics.

From 1973 to 1980 the artist goes back to the technique of hammered metal, accomplishing big and medium-sized pieces for private, municipal and state entities. His works of art are shown at the exhibition "Cravo 80" at "Farol da Barra". He also does a series of sculptures for banks and bank agencies as well as a monumental sculpture for COPEC, the petrochemical complex of "Camaçari".

The outdoors sculpture parks in Rio de Janeiro - "Parque das Catacumbas" and the "Praça da Sé" in São Paulo show sculptures of his authorship. He also gives special attention to the relationship between sculpture, architecture and landscaping. At this period of time originate also the sculptures in concrete for the "Pedra do Cavalo" dam - Cachoeira - Bahia as well as the Memorial for Clériston Andrade in Salvador.

Together with Mario Cravo Neto he accomplishes the "Cravo Book".

Between 1980 and 1983 he builds the "Crucified Christ" with a height of 15 m and a width of 12 m for the city of Vitória da Conquista - Bahia. Around 1986 he participates for the 4th time in the International Committee of Jerusalem and shows his work at an individual drawing exhibition in Zurich, Switzerland.

In 1994 he initiates the "Espaço Cravo" (Cravo Space), an outdoors park of sculptures where he builds big sized fixed, mobile and chiming sculptures. He also experiments in the field of plastic computation.

In 1996 he builds a big sized sculpture in stainless steel (luminary) for the park of the Museum of Modern Art in "Solar do Unhão".

The artist has works of art in the following museums:

Individual exhibitions in Brazil and abroad: 55 (from 1944 until 1996)
Collective exhibitions in Brazil and abroad: 76 (from 1944 until 1996)